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Quantitative Aptitude - Bank Exams

Quantitative is one section where one can score very high marks as the questions are quite simple in nature. Even the students who are coming from non mathematical background can score high marks just by putting efforts towards preparation of this section. Mastering quantitative aptitude is just another task, which can be fulfilled with focused strategy

Basic arithmetic and its applications like calculating simple and compound interest, ratio and proportion, profit, loss and discount, mixtures and work-time or time-speed based problems etc.

Questions based on graphs, tables, pie charts, bar diagrams etc.

Questions based on series.

The quantitative aptitude could be primarily called a Speed and Accuracy Test. The number of questions is large, but most of the questions are either direct formula-based questions or direct application of a basic concept. The premium is on speed. Those who can solve questions quickly rule the roost. Consider a few sample questions:

A trader bought two watches for Rs 4,000 each. One he sold at 6 per cent profit and the second at 8 per cent loss. Calculate net profit/loss.

This is a simple question of calculating a percentage

Consider another question. If today a father is four times as old as his son and five years ago he was five times as old as his son, find their present ages.

Following strategy may be adopted for this section:

Leave no area unprepared, as coverage is more important than depth. As the questions are basic in nature you need to understand all the basic concepts..

Cram and make yourself familiar with all basic formulae (basic arithmetic, mensuration, algebra and modern maths) as a starting point. Practice them well to the extent that you become well-versed with their application in basic questions.

Each functional area in quant has five to 10 standard sub-areas associated with it and each such sub-area has two to three basic concepts involving standard questions related with it. For example in work-time and time-speed questions, the sub-areas are relative speed, pipes and cisterns, boats, circular motion, clocks and work efficiency. You should familiarize yourself with each sub-area and standard questions. Again, practice well so as to solve any similar question quickly, efficiently and correctly.

Many questions require nothing but faster calculation; hence you should have mastery over the multiplication tables of first 30 natural numbers and the squares, cubes and square roots of the first 20 numbers. Memorizing reciprocals of the first 30 numbers is also helpful in dividing faster. You will find it extremely useful in arithmetic problems like computing compound interest.

While preparing for this section, try to solve most of the question in your mind itself rather than writing each and every step. If you can work in this manner you will soon find that you will be able to calculate much faster which will help you to finish the section quickly.